Creating a uniquely modern home for a stylish young family, the Bungalow 9 House meets the multifaceted demands of living and working in a sustainable environment.

Located in Brunswick, Melbourne, the Bungalow 9 House is a custom design response to modernise a classic bungalow style home to accommodate the client’s brief for a hard-wearing home for a family of six and their careful consideration of budget and sustainability.

Adaptive re-use was the first strategy employed to balance the programmatic requirements for a family of four with the budget and sustainability objectives. The classic style architecture was fully re-addressed with a contemporary nod while embracing the traditional detailing, maintaining decorative trims and cornicing. This portion of the home worked well to create individual bedrooms fostering a sense of intimacy and warmth.

The singular exception was the master ensuite where a modern insertion was devised to create an updated amenity floating within the master bedroom. The ensuite has an elevated materials palette connecting with the detailing used in the modern addition, including a unique feature stone basin.

As typical in a bungalow house, the approach for a modern extension is focused on its access to light and creation of open-planned living spaces with connectivity to the garden.

The predominate architectural language created for the Bungalow 9 House, is a series of dark timber blade walls that run north to south, improving the aspect for the interior and exterior spaces simultaneously.

This intervention results in a succession of permeable walls, each with a unique programmatic experience at the intersection with the garden, ultimately creating a layering of external and internal spaces.

In the open-plan kitchen and dining this opens to become an indoor/outdoor dining experience. In other areas it creates niches for seating, and outlooks for the study and bathroom.

Extending from the blade walls to the boundary is a series of structural steel mesh pergolas allowing the garden to mature over time. With the growth, the interior spaces and outlooks will also become more vibrant and will be constantly changing with the seasons.

The intersection of landscaping with the building will greatly contribute to the passive performance in addition to making dynamic spatial qualities.

Offsetting the dark timber, concrete flooring and bagged brick walls offer a lighter warmth and texture to the distinctly modern kitchen and living spaces. The materials selection works toward thermal mass whilst providing hard-wearing surfaces meeting the practical demands of a young family. The central kitchen bench and joinery is made from locally sourced ash also adding to the overall sustainability.

The layout provides hard-working spaces, often with multiple functions to support living and work-from-home for both parents including two separate study spaces. One of the studies is set away from the main multi-use living space and its door is fully integrated into a joinery wall to maximise privacy and productivity.

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